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2009
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Tangier (Tanja in Arabic) is a Moroccan city by the Strait of Gibraltar.
Given its strategic location, which enabled the control of the Strait of Gibraltar, Tangier had always been a coveted seaport over the centuries.
A mythological account of the origins of the city origins describes it as having been founded by Sufax, son of Tinjis, the wife of the Berber hero Antaios. The Greek version of the legend says that Sufax was a giant whom Hercules killed on a night that he had spent there while carrying on one of his Twelve Labours penances. According to the myth, Sufax is the son of Hercules and of the widow of Antaios.
An old Phoenician town, Tangier was founded by Carthaginian colonists in the 5th century BC, before being subjected to Roman rule in the 1st century BC, first as an allied city, and then as a colony. In time it became the capital city of the Roman Province of Mauritania Tingitana. In the 5th century AD, Vandals from the Iberian Peninsula invaded it, and about a century later it became part of the Byzantine Empire. Finally, around 702, it came under Arab rule.
After the conquest of Ceuta in 1415, Tangier followed as the next step in Portuguese Expansion on the North of Africa, mostly for strategic reasons. A good seaport, it was also the most important town West of Ceuta. By possessing it, the Portuguese assured their control over the Southern part of the Strait of Gibraltar. There were however several obstacles to Portuguese progression in North Africa in the years immediately following the taking of Ceuta (opposition from some members of the Royal family being one of them). Nevertheless, once the hope of a joint Portuguese and Castilian expedition to Granada was lost, a new scenario, characterised by the reassurance of peace and the growing insistence coming from the nobility and from the King's brothers Dom Henrique and Dom Fernando, led to Dom Duarte's decision to resume Portuguese Expansion in Northern Africa.
In a 1437 expedition led by Dom Henrique and Dom Fernando (having as constable Dom Fernando, Count of Arraiolos) the Portuguese attacked Tangier in what proved to be one of the most disastrous military campaigns in the history of Portugal. Dom Fernando, the Holy Infante, was made a prisoner there.
Subsequently to the disaster, the cortes met between January and February 1438, and Dom Duarte asked for advice on how to deal with Dom Fernando's captivity. Infante Dom Pedro, the members of the clergy and most of the representatives assembled were in favour of giving Ceuta back to the Moors. Opposition to this solution came from some quarters, namely from Infante Dom João and his father-in-law, the Count of Barcelos, his brother-in-law, the Count of Arraiolos, and the councils of Lisbon and Oporto as well as of Algarve, which anticipated financial losses derived from a cessation of trading activities with that city. Hard to keep as it was, Ceuta should remain Portuguese at all cost, because it was the only Christian stronghold in infidel territory. Dom Duarte stood for attempting to release Dom Fernando without giving over Ceuta, but died before accomplishing his goal. During Dom Pedro's regency, several initiatives aiming at an agreement with the Moors with regard to the infante's captivity were unsuccessfully attempted due to the reciprocal suspicion that haunted the negotiations. On 6 July 1443, Dom Fernando died, after six years of imprisonment. The infante's death had the immediate effect of withdrawing the Ceuta issue out of the political agenda. In this context, Tangier became more than a fancy aspiration - it was a duty to perform within the conquest programme of Dom Afonso V's reign.
When a new Portuguese expedition set sail towards the North of Africa in 1458 with the purpose of taking Alcácer Ceguer, the King considered the possibility of including the invasion of Tangier on the programme of the expedition. He was, however, talked out of this plan by Dom Henrique, who clearly remembered the disastrous events of 1437.
Notwithstanding this decision, the Portuguese continued to try their luck on conquering Tangier during the Moroccan campaigns of 1463-1464, with the same unsuccessful results.
A new opportunity arose in 1471: taking advantage of a moment of political unrest in the Kingdom of Fez, Dom Afonso V organised an expedition aiming at taking Asilah: on the one hand, in spite of its unsafe seaport, it was a fertile agricultural region; on the other hand, the subjection of Asilah would make it easier to lay siege to Tangier from the South.
Dom Afonso V took in this respect a completely different course of action as compared to what had happened in Alcácer Ceguer. A policy of terror was set up, and the King did not accept the surrender of the city. While Asilah was under siege, Muley Sheikh, its suzerain and one of the most distinguished Wattasid leaders, was out on an attempt to conquer the kingdom of Fez. When he heard that his own city was under siege, he hesitated on promptly abandoning his purpose and returning to Asilah. By the time he arrived there, defeat was irreversible. He just had to confirm it and to sign the peace settlement. Muley Sheikh sacrificed the possession of a city in order to fight for a kingdom. One year after these events took place he was empowered as the first Sultan of the new Wattasid dynasty.
According to the terms of the agreement, Dom Afonso V became the "peaceful" suzerain of Ceuta, Alcácer Ceguer and Asilah, with all their places, villages, and outskirts. Their inhabitants became Portuguese subjects - vassals compelled to comply with the corresponding laws. A truce period of twenty years was fixed, but both parties were given the right of attacking walled in towns and cities. The Portuguese right of attacking Tangier was, therefore, assured.
No conquest procedures were, however, required. The inhabitants abandoned the city: "fearing that the slaughter and destruction in Asilah [whose misfortunes, so it was told, were passed on as a warning by an old woman] might be their lot as well, [they flew and] left it unprotected" (Rui de Pina, Crónica de D. Afonso V, chapter CLXVII). The King, suspecting that this information might be false, sent there 2000 horse and 5000 foot soldiers led by Dom João, the son of the Duke of Braganza and the future Marquis of Montemor. The city had been burned before being abandoned. Strange as it may seem, the inhabitants set their houses on fire but not the artillery. Dom João de Braganza found "heavy cannons, and many other artillery pieces and gunpowder" (Rui de Pina, Crónica de D. Afonso V, cap. CLXVII]). The King entered the city by the end of August / early September. The chroniclers wanted to record in history the idea of a peaceful entry in an unconquered city on an extremely symbolic date: 28 August 1471, a day dedicated to St. Augustine, a saint believed to have been born in Tangier.
At his arrival, Dom Afonso V granted many donations and made countless appointments for official posts. Before leaving the city, the King wanted to make sure that the garrison was duly organised. One of the first steps taken by the monarch was the opening of bypaths in the walls. The city was too big and its walls were hard to defend by the Portuguese regiment assigned to occupy it. The bypaths had the effect of reducing the perimeter of the walls and of better protecting them. The total surface area was thus reduced to one quarter. Fernando de Meneses says on his História de Tângere that "as the King noticed that it was a big city, and that it required a fortress matching in size for defensive purposes, he ordered it to be cut and reduced to one thousand neighbours, instead of the four thousand or more that it had" [p.33]. When the King left for Portugal, Tangier was a "fortified city with 40 horses, 150 soldiers, 130 crossbowmen, 180 foot soldiers, 10 battery men, and 10 escutas ("listeners" were military agents in the Moroccan strongholds tasked with surveillance activities in order to gather vital information for the success of the Portuguese interests.") [D. Fernando de Meneses, História de Tângere, p. 33].
After being captured, Tangier experienced a period of calm, due to the treaty celebrated between the Portuguese monarch, Dom Afonso V, and the lord of Asilah. Those peaceful times enabled the establishment of fruitful relations and tributary zones with the so-called "mouros de pazes" ("Peaceful Moors", that is Moors who recognised Portuguese overlordship). Crops were grown on the fields surrounding the city and contacts were made with other Portuguese settlements in Northern Morocco. With the turn of the century, however, peace came to an end and relations between the city and the surrounding Moorish community decayed significantly. Only through using a sentinel system could the Tangier inhabitants get firewood and fodder for their animals from the neighbouring fields. Everything else had to come from the Kingdom, the Atlantic islands or the Portuguese trading post of Andalucia. The dwellers were confined to life inside the city walls, and lived under the permanent threat of war. The city remained under Portuguese rule until 1661, when it was handed over to the English as part of the dowry of Dona Catarina de Bragança, the daughter of Dom João IV, who got married to Charles II of England. That same year, an English fleet put into the port of Tangier and a significant part of the garrison and of the Portuguese population returned to the Kingdom.
Bibliografia:
BRAGA, Paulo Drumond, «A Expansão no Norte de África», in Nova História da Expansão Portuguesa, dir. de Joel Serrão e A. H. de Oliveira Marques, Vol. II, A Expansão Quatrocentista, Editorial Estampa, 1998, pp. 237-360. DUARTE, Luís Miguel, «África», in Nova História Militar de Portugal, dir. de Themudo Barata e Nuno Severiano Teixeira, vol. I, Lisboa, Circulo de Leitores, 2003, pp. 392-441. MENESES, Fernando de, História de Tângere, Lisboa Ocidental, Officina Ferreiriana, 1732.
Translated by: Leonor Sampaio da Silva
A mythological account of the origins of the city origins describes it as having been founded by Sufax, son of Tinjis, the wife of the Berber hero Antaios. The Greek version of the legend says that Sufax was a giant whom Hercules killed on a night that he had spent there while carrying on one of his Twelve Labours penances. According to the myth, Sufax is the son of Hercules and of the widow of Antaios.
An old Phoenician town, Tangier was founded by Carthaginian colonists in the 5th century BC, before being subjected to Roman rule in the 1st century BC, first as an allied city, and then as a colony. In time it became the capital city of the Roman Province of Mauritania Tingitana. In the 5th century AD, Vandals from the Iberian Peninsula invaded it, and about a century later it became part of the Byzantine Empire. Finally, around 702, it came under Arab rule.
After the conquest of Ceuta in 1415, Tangier followed as the next step in Portuguese Expansion on the North of Africa, mostly for strategic reasons. A good seaport, it was also the most important town West of Ceuta. By possessing it, the Portuguese assured their control over the Southern part of the Strait of Gibraltar. There were however several obstacles to Portuguese progression in North Africa in the years immediately following the taking of Ceuta (opposition from some members of the Royal family being one of them). Nevertheless, once the hope of a joint Portuguese and Castilian expedition to Granada was lost, a new scenario, characterised by the reassurance of peace and the growing insistence coming from the nobility and from the King's brothers Dom Henrique and Dom Fernando, led to Dom Duarte's decision to resume Portuguese Expansion in Northern Africa.
In a 1437 expedition led by Dom Henrique and Dom Fernando (having as constable Dom Fernando, Count of Arraiolos) the Portuguese attacked Tangier in what proved to be one of the most disastrous military campaigns in the history of Portugal. Dom Fernando, the Holy Infante, was made a prisoner there.
Subsequently to the disaster, the cortes met between January and February 1438, and Dom Duarte asked for advice on how to deal with Dom Fernando's captivity. Infante Dom Pedro, the members of the clergy and most of the representatives assembled were in favour of giving Ceuta back to the Moors. Opposition to this solution came from some quarters, namely from Infante Dom João and his father-in-law, the Count of Barcelos, his brother-in-law, the Count of Arraiolos, and the councils of Lisbon and Oporto as well as of Algarve, which anticipated financial losses derived from a cessation of trading activities with that city. Hard to keep as it was, Ceuta should remain Portuguese at all cost, because it was the only Christian stronghold in infidel territory. Dom Duarte stood for attempting to release Dom Fernando without giving over Ceuta, but died before accomplishing his goal. During Dom Pedro's regency, several initiatives aiming at an agreement with the Moors with regard to the infante's captivity were unsuccessfully attempted due to the reciprocal suspicion that haunted the negotiations. On 6 July 1443, Dom Fernando died, after six years of imprisonment. The infante's death had the immediate effect of withdrawing the Ceuta issue out of the political agenda. In this context, Tangier became more than a fancy aspiration - it was a duty to perform within the conquest programme of Dom Afonso V's reign.
When a new Portuguese expedition set sail towards the North of Africa in 1458 with the purpose of taking Alcácer Ceguer, the King considered the possibility of including the invasion of Tangier on the programme of the expedition. He was, however, talked out of this plan by Dom Henrique, who clearly remembered the disastrous events of 1437.
Notwithstanding this decision, the Portuguese continued to try their luck on conquering Tangier during the Moroccan campaigns of 1463-1464, with the same unsuccessful results.
A new opportunity arose in 1471: taking advantage of a moment of political unrest in the Kingdom of Fez, Dom Afonso V organised an expedition aiming at taking Asilah: on the one hand, in spite of its unsafe seaport, it was a fertile agricultural region; on the other hand, the subjection of Asilah would make it easier to lay siege to Tangier from the South.
Dom Afonso V took in this respect a completely different course of action as compared to what had happened in Alcácer Ceguer. A policy of terror was set up, and the King did not accept the surrender of the city. While Asilah was under siege, Muley Sheikh, its suzerain and one of the most distinguished Wattasid leaders, was out on an attempt to conquer the kingdom of Fez. When he heard that his own city was under siege, he hesitated on promptly abandoning his purpose and returning to Asilah. By the time he arrived there, defeat was irreversible. He just had to confirm it and to sign the peace settlement. Muley Sheikh sacrificed the possession of a city in order to fight for a kingdom. One year after these events took place he was empowered as the first Sultan of the new Wattasid dynasty.
According to the terms of the agreement, Dom Afonso V became the "peaceful" suzerain of Ceuta, Alcácer Ceguer and Asilah, with all their places, villages, and outskirts. Their inhabitants became Portuguese subjects - vassals compelled to comply with the corresponding laws. A truce period of twenty years was fixed, but both parties were given the right of attacking walled in towns and cities. The Portuguese right of attacking Tangier was, therefore, assured.
No conquest procedures were, however, required. The inhabitants abandoned the city: "fearing that the slaughter and destruction in Asilah [whose misfortunes, so it was told, were passed on as a warning by an old woman] might be their lot as well, [they flew and] left it unprotected" (Rui de Pina, Crónica de D. Afonso V, chapter CLXVII). The King, suspecting that this information might be false, sent there 2000 horse and 5000 foot soldiers led by Dom João, the son of the Duke of Braganza and the future Marquis of Montemor. The city had been burned before being abandoned. Strange as it may seem, the inhabitants set their houses on fire but not the artillery. Dom João de Braganza found "heavy cannons, and many other artillery pieces and gunpowder" (Rui de Pina, Crónica de D. Afonso V, cap. CLXVII]). The King entered the city by the end of August / early September. The chroniclers wanted to record in history the idea of a peaceful entry in an unconquered city on an extremely symbolic date: 28 August 1471, a day dedicated to St. Augustine, a saint believed to have been born in Tangier.
At his arrival, Dom Afonso V granted many donations and made countless appointments for official posts. Before leaving the city, the King wanted to make sure that the garrison was duly organised. One of the first steps taken by the monarch was the opening of bypaths in the walls. The city was too big and its walls were hard to defend by the Portuguese regiment assigned to occupy it. The bypaths had the effect of reducing the perimeter of the walls and of better protecting them. The total surface area was thus reduced to one quarter. Fernando de Meneses says on his História de Tângere that "as the King noticed that it was a big city, and that it required a fortress matching in size for defensive purposes, he ordered it to be cut and reduced to one thousand neighbours, instead of the four thousand or more that it had" [p.33]. When the King left for Portugal, Tangier was a "fortified city with 40 horses, 150 soldiers, 130 crossbowmen, 180 foot soldiers, 10 battery men, and 10 escutas ("listeners" were military agents in the Moroccan strongholds tasked with surveillance activities in order to gather vital information for the success of the Portuguese interests.") [D. Fernando de Meneses, História de Tângere, p. 33].
After being captured, Tangier experienced a period of calm, due to the treaty celebrated between the Portuguese monarch, Dom Afonso V, and the lord of Asilah. Those peaceful times enabled the establishment of fruitful relations and tributary zones with the so-called "mouros de pazes" ("Peaceful Moors", that is Moors who recognised Portuguese overlordship). Crops were grown on the fields surrounding the city and contacts were made with other Portuguese settlements in Northern Morocco. With the turn of the century, however, peace came to an end and relations between the city and the surrounding Moorish community decayed significantly. Only through using a sentinel system could the Tangier inhabitants get firewood and fodder for their animals from the neighbouring fields. Everything else had to come from the Kingdom, the Atlantic islands or the Portuguese trading post of Andalucia. The dwellers were confined to life inside the city walls, and lived under the permanent threat of war. The city remained under Portuguese rule until 1661, when it was handed over to the English as part of the dowry of Dona Catarina de Bragança, the daughter of Dom João IV, who got married to Charles II of England. That same year, an English fleet put into the port of Tangier and a significant part of the garrison and of the Portuguese population returned to the Kingdom.
Bibliografia:
BRAGA, Paulo Drumond, «A Expansão no Norte de África», in Nova História da Expansão Portuguesa, dir. de Joel Serrão e A. H. de Oliveira Marques, Vol. II, A Expansão Quatrocentista, Editorial Estampa, 1998, pp. 237-360. DUARTE, Luís Miguel, «África», in Nova História Militar de Portugal, dir. de Themudo Barata e Nuno Severiano Teixeira, vol. I, Lisboa, Circulo de Leitores, 2003, pp. 392-441. MENESES, Fernando de, História de Tângere, Lisboa Ocidental, Officina Ferreiriana, 1732.
Translated by: Leonor Sampaio da Silva